ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.
"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."
- Franklin P. Jones
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The girl in the window
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Roxas Rosario was not weird by any means. In fact, he's quite ordinary.
He was an average high school student that loved skateboards, guitars and hanging out with his friends and cousin, Sora. He lived with his mom and dad in a nice apartment in the thriving metropolis of Twilight Town and attended a good school nearby.
He didn't do drugs, wasn't hanging out with the wrong crowd and did things every normal teenager does: hang out at the arcade, the mall or the skate-park or hey, even sitting atop a building with his legs dangling off the edge while he watched a girl through her window from his side of the street.
Yes, indeed. Roxas Rosario was perfectly normal.
At least that's what he told himself.
Resting his elbows on his knees, he stared down at the window across the street.
Beyond the sheer curtains, she stood.
Her back was turned slightly towards him as she faced the canvas set on an easel. In her hand was a paintbrush that was raised one minute and paused in the air for another.
Stuck on another block? That was rare, she had few lapses of inspiration if the room full of artwork could be taken into account, and that's not even including all the paintings, sketches and portraits around her house.
Not that Roxas had ever been to her house.
When she first moved across the street, the moving van had caused a bit of a backup in traffic.
No problem for a kid on a skateboard. He weaved through the stationary vehicles, determined to take advantage of the asphalt as he rode full speed through the street, up and down the pavement and the tarmac.
One of his favorite things was the buzz he felt as he swerved and did his three-sixty flips and half-pikes; the lightness to his entire being while freedom's rush coursed through his veins was the greatest high he ever knew…up until a large painting appeared.
He tried to stop, really he did.
But when you're going high speed on a skateboard, suddenly putting on the breaks wasn't an option.
He crashed right through the canvas, his head replacing the beautifully painted dog standing beside a painted lady.
To say it was embarrassing would be an understatement; especially when a pretty girl is standing in front of you, looking like she was going to cry.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry!"
Horrified by the destruction of her painting so suddenly, she quickly attempted to run into her house. In his struggle to get out of the painting, he stumbled after her, managing to grab her arm before she could make it to the door.
She whirled on him then, a fist suddenly slamming into his face.
Five minutes later, Roxas found himself sitting on the steps of her apartment building with an ice-pack, being glared at by a red haired young man. "Do you mind explaining to me why you made my sister cry?"
"I didn't mean to. I was on my skateboard and I didn't notice those guys moving that painting in -"
His eyes narrowed. "You ruined her painting?"
"Yo Axel, did you beat up that loser?" Another man appeared in the doorway of the building, looking irritated.
"Reno, he broke her painting."
"That doesn't explain why you he's still here," Reno said with a scoff, but after taking a look at Roxas and his black eye, he hummed. "I see, so she got to him first."
Axel nodded sagely. "We raised her well."
Thankfully her two brothers took pity on him and didn't throttle his ass for making their baby sister cry, however, they did have a very simple condition: Stay away from their sister.
Easier said than done.
Their sister, Naminé du Arc arrived at his school the day after, along with her paternal twin sister, Kairi.
Inwardly Roxas thought how funny it was that in a family of red heads, she was the only blonde one.
"She's like the black sheep of the Weaselys," he joked when the siblings showed up together in the cafeteria later that day, in a feeble attempt to get the attention away from the black eye he sported. As a person not inclined to lying, he wouldn't admit to anyone that he was beaten up by a girl especially one as fragile looking as Naminé.
But she wasn't so fragile.
Even from across the street, with her back turned, he knew that underneath the turtleneck, art smock and casual jeans she sported, her limbs were firm and toned by her love of tennis.
From his position on the rooftop, he could see the many medals and trophies displayed around her vanity which was used more as a table than anything else. CDs were stacked in a haphazard manner with empty jars holding her paintbrushes; obviously she wasn't the type of girl to care much about organization.
When he saw her at school, however, it was like her personality did a complete one-eighty.
As per his agreement with her brothers, Roxas had tried hard to stay away from Naminé du Arc.
Unfortunately for him, they happened to share quite a few classes together and it didn't help that Sora had a thing for Namine's sister, so obviously he just had to invite the twins to lunch at every opportunity.
In an attempt to keep their interactions minimal, Roxas excused himself from lunch with his group of friends citing that he forgot his skateboard in English.
Slipping his headphones on, Roxas took a leisurely stroll to English class. If he had to avoid Naminé the best way was to not show up for lunch.
That didn't go to plan when they literally ran into each other.
Her books were scattered all over the floor, loose paper littering the hallway like freshly fallen snow. She had gasped in surprise behind him as he tried to grab all her fallen items while mumbling apologies.
At the time, he was surprised that Naminé was the type of person who kept a planner on her at all times with a calendar, a general hour-by-hour schedule and a list of things she had to do.
It later proved to be understandable considering how booked she seemed to be throughout the course of her day.
Though she wasn't as social as her sister and much quieter, Kairi insisted that she participate in all the school activities. Naminé was expected to handle band practice, choir, book club, tutoring, library, remedial, tennis and the school decorating committee.
All the stress seemed to affect her mood considerably. Whenever she got home she did one of two things: turn on the radio to a station playing obscure indie music or listen to Mozart.
The first she did when she painted, normally when she was happy. The latter she did in times of extreme stress or depression.
He knew for sure when Axel barged into her room when one of the symphonies was playing one Monday in April:
"Naminé, it's your turn to cook dinner."
"Go to hell!"
Or maybe she just didn't like cooking dinner?
It might explain why after her turn for making dinner at the Du Arc household, the bathroom door across her room was always shut and the sound of someone getting sick could be heard from across the street. Roxas found sick pleasure in this, hoping that Reno was having the worst of Naminé's attempts at cooking.
The fact that he knew all this and hadn't even held a conversation with her was enough to make him the butt of many private jokes. Stupid Sora.
The door to the roof opened with a sharp bang. "Roxas, you still up here?"
"Go away."
His cousin sat down beside him, the brown spikes of his head flapping lazily with the slight breeze. Everyone always said how he and Sora were practically twins, just with different hair colors. Roxas refused to believe them. He didn't have that dopey look Sora had. "Why, am I interrupting your stalking time?" And he wasn't as irritating.
"I'm not a stalker."
"Then explain what you're doing."
"Enjoying the view." There wasn't much to see thanks to Naminé's building, but the view was still nice.
Sora looked down. "Hey, you're right; everyone looks like ants from up here!"
He swore his cousin was a burn out of some kind. Roxas rolled his eyes. "What are you doing up here anyway?"
"Me? Just wondering what you were doing," he answered casually, looking across the street to her window. "So what's she up to?"
"Trying to paint, she's having trouble though."
"How can you tell?"
Roxas shrugged. "I can hear Bach."
When he first heard her music selection, he found it annoying. There was either a wailing indie singer or an endless stream of instrumentals. In the ten months since Naminé's arrival, he'd grown used to it – at this stage he could tell who was performing what. Though if anyone asked, it was because he recognized it, not because he Googled the hell out of her playlist.
"Oh."
For awhile he forgot that Sora was with him, but then his cousin grew restless and began swinging his legs - the back of his heels hitting the upper panel of someone's window on the floor below.
"Sora."
"Huh?"
"What are you really doing here?"
"Nothing I -"
"Aren't you supposed to be on some double-date thing with Kairi, Olette and Hayner?"
"Well see, that's what I came up here to talk to you about," Sora said slowly, making Roxas suspicious.
"Go on."
"Hayner and Olette couldn't make it, and you know how Kairi's brothers are," he trailed, glancing worriedly across the street to Naminé's window, almost afraid that Reno and Axel would jump out at them at any second.
Since the Du Arc brothers had been the sole guardians of their sisters since their parents' left, their protectiveness was extreme. Any dates with either of their sisters had to be done in a group, with people they approved of.
"Her brothers don't like me."
"But they like me!"
"Sora, that's not the point. They won't even let me near Naminé."
His cousin blinked. "Who said anything about Naminé? I just wanted you to bring a girl along so we could have a double-date, but hey! Bringing Naminé is an awesome idea!"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Who says I even like Naminé?"
"You've been sitting here, watching her from her window since she moved here. Not to mention you did bring her up."
"I don't know anything about her; I haven't even spoken to her before"
"Yes you have."
"Saying "hello, how are you?" and "sorry, were you sitting here?" don't count."
"Well you can talk about Backs."
"Backs?" he repeated.
Sora waved inconsequentially towards Naminé's window. "That funny music she's listening to."
"Bach, you knob," Roxas corrected, snorting, before continuing unconvincingly, "Sure, that can work and then what?"
"I don't know man, haven't you ever been on a date before?"
His cheeks reddened considerably. "What makes you think she'll want to go on a date with me?"
"Well you're a nice guy, and you can do some sick tricks on a skateboard. And you know her."
"Why do you keep saying that? I don't know her at all."
"Oh really," Sora began, crossing his arms and squinting his eyes at Naminé's window. "Tell me what she's doing."
Figuring he can humor the brunet, Roxas sighed and looked to her window as well. Her back was still turned, but her arm was moving quickly between the paint on the vanity and the canvas. She paused for a second to tie her hair up, and continued on furiously.
"She's painting."
"And?" Sora asked quietly as if he didn't want to disturb Roxas' concentration.
"She's inspired, she's painting fast because she's afraid she'll lose the inspiration before she can finish."
"Does it happen a lot?"
"Sometimes, it depends on her mood."
"What's her mood?"
Bach was still playing in the background, but she wasn't agitated or upset. Her face turned ever so slightly and he caught the sight of her tongue sticking out from the corner of her mouth, her brow furrowed in concentration as her wrist snapped to and fro.
"She's excited, happy."
"How can you tell?"
"I just know."
"Exactly!" Sora's "Eureka" moment startled him, and he had to hold onto the edge of the roof to prevent falling off. "What the hell?"
"You know her cous, you pay attention to her, you like her!"
"That doesn't mean she'll say yes if I ask her."
He opened his mouth to argue before his phone beeped. Fishing it out and unlocking the screen, Sora's eyes scanned the message before he stood up. "Looks like you don't have to find out right now, Hayner said he and Olette can make it."
Roxas sighed in relief.
"Try not to stalk her the whole night," Sora said as he punched the blonde's shoulder.
Shaking his head, Roxas focused once more on the window and found her removing her art smock and wiping her hands on the material. Her figure hiding the masterpiece she created just moments before.
"Oh and Roxas," Sora called from the door of the roof, "You should give asking her a try, you never know, she might say yes. Some girls are into the stalker types – just ask Team Edward."
"Go on your date and shut up," he retorted to the brunet's laugh. He mumbled to himself as he turned back around, "She'll never say yes."
"Now I wouldn't say that."
Blinking in confusion, the setting sun caught in his eye as it disappeared behind her building; it took him a moment to realize that Naminé was leaning her elbows on the window pane, watching him in amusement.
"I…uh…"
"Isn't it dangerous to sit there?"
"Uh…no, not really." Other people thought so, more than once someone would call out to him, telling him not to jump. Though there was that one time someone chanted, "Do it, do it."
"Why do you sit up there?"
He shrugged, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I like high places." He added quietly, "Besides, the view's nice."
"Well I've got a pretty nice view too, but it's getting dark, you should go home."
Below, street lights flickered on while the other windows in her building lit up warm, gold squares, the smell of dinner wafting out into the street.
"Yeah, I probably should…"
She smiled and called out, "Good night."
"Night…"
In the middle of closing her window, she stopped and stuck her head out again. "Oh and by the way, if you asked, I might say yes though only if you promise not to destroy another painting."
His jaw unhinged eliciting a soft laugh as she shut the window and left her room, the painting on the easel she had been working on a depiction of a spiky, haired blonde boy, looking down at the world broodingly as the sun lingered on his tanned face romantically.
It looked like he and the girl in the window were on Team Edward.
Finis
A/n: So this is my second attempt at KH fanfic since I was nine so uh…be nice? Constructive criticism and reviews welcomed with virtual hugs and cookies.